Clip attached to beaded or fabric covered bendable wire for styling hair

ABSTRACT

A hair-clip device for installation into a person&#39;s hair for styling said hair that includes a clip element which is attached to a flexible wire element. The clip element comprises two halves which are pivotally attached and spring loaded. The distal end of the two halves of the clip have finger-like prong projections. Attached to the proximal end of the spring-loaded clip is a flexible, bendable wire member. The wire member is covered with at least one decorative element such as a plurality of beads or fabric.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to and claims priority and a filing date ofthe Provisional Application bearing Application No. 60/826,526 and afiling date of Sep. 21, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair-clip device for styling hair. Morespecifically, the present invention hair styling device comprisesbendable wire which is preferably bead covered or cloth covered that isattached to a hinged, spring-loaded clip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are a multitude of prior art devices that are utilized to hold auser's hair in place. These prior art devices include hair clips andhair pins of a multitude of configurations. In addition, prior artelastic members have long been utilized to bunch the user's hair and toform pigtails or ponytails. None of the prior art devices included amechanism to hold a bunch of hair in place while simultaneouslyemploying a bendable, flexible piece to style the hair. The presentinvention allows a user to take strands or chunks of hair and keep it inplace with a clip, and then bend and manipulate a flexible member toquickly and easily form a spiral. The flexible member may also easily bewrapped around the user's hair several times to hold it in place or toform a ponytail. Unlike the elastic prior art devices which cannotachieve a spiral look, the flexible piece is both flexible and adaptablethereby allowing hair to remain in the position in which it is twisted.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features, and further scope ofapplicability of the present invention will be set forth in the detaileddescription to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, will become apparent to those skilled in the art of customvehicle fabrication upon examination of the following or may be learnedby practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of theinvention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalitiesand combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair-clip device for installation into aperson's hair for styling said hair. More specifically, the presentinvention hair styling device includes a clip element which is attachedto a flexible wire element. The clip element comprises two halves whichare pivotally attached and spring loaded. The distal end of the twohalves of the clip have finger-like prong projections. Attached to theproximal end of the spring-loaded clip is a flexible, bendable wiremember. The wire member is covered with at least one decorative elementsuch as a plurality of beads or fabric. The present invention isutilized by retaining a clump of user's hair in the spring-loaded clip.Thereafter, the flexible wire member is utilized to wind around a bunchof strands of the user's hair, thereby styling the hair in a spiral orponytail fashion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made herein tothe following description of an exemplary embodiment thereof, consideredin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first clip half;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a spring clip half further illustratinga pivot pin for pivotally connecting the first clip half to the secondclip half;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a spring clip assembly constructed withone first clip half, one second clip half, one pivot pin and a spring;

FIG. 4 is a perspective truncated view of a plurality of beads assembledwith bendable wire and connected to a spring clip assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective truncated view of a plurality of beads assembledwith bendable wire and connected to a spring clip assembly;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the present invention plurality of beadsassembled with bendable wire and connected to a spring clip assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention, illustrating awoman with the device in her hair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair-clip device for installation into aperson's hair for styling said hair. More specifically, the presentinvention hair styling device includes a clip element which is attachedto a flexible wire element. In the preferred embodiment, the flexiblewire element is cloth covered or bead covered.

Referring to the Figures and specifically to FIGS. 1 through 3, a springclip assembly 50 is provided which is utilized to clip a segment of thewearer's hair. The clip assembly may vary in size but a size should bechosen that is appropriate to retain a segment of the wearer's hair. Thespring clip may be formed from various materials, including but notlimited to plastic, wood or metal. The spring clip assembly includes afirst clip half 10 and a second clip half 20 wherein each of the twohalves is provided with fingers or prongs at the distal end whichfingers interlock with each other. The two halves of the spring clip areassembled in the following manner. A spring 30 is positioned around thepivot pin 40 as best viewed in FIG. 3. Now, the pivot rod is positionedthrough the pivot pin apertures located at the proximal end of each ofthe two halves of the clip thereby attaching the two half together in aspring-loaded fashion. As such, the prongs of the spring clip willremain interlocked until the user applies sufficient force to separatethe prongs. In another embodiment of the present invention, instead of aspring-load clip, an elastic band in the manner of a continuous loop maybe employed. In this embodiment, the elastic band is wrapped around alock of hair several times to hold it in place, while the bendable pieceis twisted around hair to form a spiral (or braid-like appearance.)

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, a flexible wire 60 is attached to theproximal end of the spring clip assembly 50. The flexible wire 60 may beattached to the clip assembly by wrapping a portion of the wire aroundan attachment point on the clip assembly, or it may be soldered, gluedor otherwise attached. The length of the flexible wire may vary andshould be chosen to be appropriate to the length of the hair of theuser.

Now, the flexible wire may be covered by a number of differentdecorative elements. As shown in the Figures, a plurality of beads 70may be installed to cover, protect and decorate the hair styling device80. Alternatively, the flexible wire may be covered by fabric which canbe cotton, velvet, polyester or the like. Moreover, the outer layer ofthe wire may be plastic. If beads are selected, the beads may be formedfrom plastic, glass, wood or the like, and are provided with openingslarge enough for the wire to be fed through. The beads may be of varyingsize, shape, colors, styles or compositions. If fabric is selected asthe wire covering, the fabric is glued to, sewn or wrapped around theentire wire. If beads are utilized, the beads should cover the wire,beginning on or close to the base of the clip until they reach the endof the wire. The end of the wire should be looped and fastened bytwisting around the remaining wire. The last bead could be formed aroundthe loop to secure the previous beads. This loop, and therefore the lastbead, should be larger than the previous bead.

The hair styling device of the present invention keeps strands or chunksof hair in place while forming an adorned spiral look. The device isutilized in the following manners, one of which is depicted in FIG. 7.

1. The user takes in hand strands or chunks of hair, holds then by theroot, and then clips them together utilizing the spring-loaded clip.Then the beaded or fabric covered flexible wire is wound or twistedseveral times around the remaining length of hair to form a spiral.

2. The user pulls the hair from the front of the head back. The hair isbrought together towards the back of the head and near the center. Thehair is clipped together using the spring-load clip so that a largeportion of hair is bundled together in an upward position, while therest of the hair is loose and down. The loose hair is taken and partedin half to form two separate clumps of hair. The flexible piece of theinvention is placed on the part and then two separate clumps of hair arebrought together so that the flexible piece hangs loosely under thebundle of hair. While the bundle of hair is held, the flexible piece istwisted around the hair several times to form a spiral ponytail. Asimilar style can be achieved by parting the hair completely down themiddle, and using two of the present invention devices for either sideto form a spiral look or ponytail on either side of the head.

3. A bunch of hair is taken, brought together to the desired positionand held in place with the clip. Another nearby chunk of hair is takenand held in the user's hands close to the scalp. The user starts closeto the scalp and begins twisting the bendable piece several times aroundthe bundle of hair to form a spiral along the length of the hair, or thebendable piece is wrapped around several times to hold the hair in place(it does not need to cover the entire length of hair.)

4. The user takes strands of hair or a chunk of hair and uses the clipto hold the hair together by clipping it near the root. The flexiblewire is twisted a couple of times around an entire small portion of thehair strands nearest the clip. Another small portion of the remaininghair strands are taken, additional nearby strands of hair are added andheld by the roots. Now, the bendable piece is twisted a couple of timesaround a small portion of the new chunk of hair. The operation continuesin this fashion until the end of the beaded or fabric covered piece isreached. The bendable piece may be adjusted sot that the hair strandsstay in the desired position.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles andpreferred embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, since numerouschanges and modifications will readily occur to one skilled in the art,it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction,operation and embodiment shown and described, and accordingly allsuitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, fallingwithin the scope of the invention.

1. A device for styling hair comprising: a spring-load clip having adistal and proximal end, said spring-loaded clip utilized to bunchtogether a user's hair; a bendable wire member attached to said proximalend of said clip, said bendable wire member covered with at least onedecorative element wherein said bendable wire member is utilized to wraparound the hair of a user.
 2. The device for styling hair of claim 1wherein said at least one decorative element comprises a plurality ofbeads.
 3. The device for styling hair of claim 1 wherein said at leastone decorative element comprises fabric.
 4. The device for styling hairof claim 1 which further includes prongs on said distal end of saidspring-load clip.
 5. A device for styling hair comprising: a clip havinga distal and proximal end, said clip utilized to bunch together a user'shair; a bendable wire member attached to said proximal end of said clipwherein said bendable wire member is utilized to wrap around the hair ofa user.
 6. A device for styling hair comprising: a spring-load cliphaving a distal and proximal end, said spring-loaded clip utilized tobunch together a user's hair, said spring-loaded clip including prongson said distal end, said spring-loaded clip utilized to bunch together auser's hair; a bendable wire member attached to said proximal end ofsaid clip, said bendable wire member covered with a plurality of beadswherein said flexible wire member is utilized to wrap around the hair ofa user.